Guidance Parent Newsletter
Middle School
Hello Parents!
My name is Sophia Solano and I am the school counselor for Blessed Trinity. I started in January of last year so I'm still getting to know everyone. I love working at this school and getting to know your children!
My plan for this year is to send a newsletter out at the end of each quarter to discuss different tips and suggestions to help best support your learner. If you ever have any concerns of questions please feel free to contact me. I am here Tuesdays and Thursdays and can be reached via email at counselor@blessedtrinitycatholicschool.org or by phone at 904-641-3837 ext 336
My plan for this year is to send a newsletter out at the end of each quarter to discuss different tips and suggestions to help best support your learner. If you ever have any concerns of questions please feel free to contact me. I am here Tuesdays and Thursdays and can be reached via email at counselor@blessedtrinitycatholicschool.org or by phone at 904-641-3837 ext 336
Welcome To Middle School
Middle School can be a very challenging time for both you and your child. Not only can mood swings, behavior changes and attitudes greatly impact you it's no picnic for your child either. Middle School is a time of lots of transitions and hopefully some growing independence, however parents still need to be very much in the know and continue to help their students stay on top of things and hold themselves accountable. I tell students all the time I'm more concerned with the habits they develop in these very formative years than I am with them getting straight A's. Below I've listed some links to helpful sites for suggestions on dealing with behaviors as well as information on what you can be doing to start planning for college. Hope you find it helpful!
Website Links
Middle School Parent Blog:
Click here for a great blog written by a school counselor (maybe I'm a little biased ;) filled with tips and suggestions on a range of potential issues your child could face.
College Board:
While college is still a ways away you'd be surprised how much Colleges and Universities will still look at Middle School, especially 8th grade. Many schools and scholarships now require that Algebra 1 is taken in 8th grade in order to be considered for their programs.
*Click here for an article filled with suggestions on what you can be doing even now to help set up your child for success.
*Click here for a quiz you can do with your child that will give you suggestions and advice based on your unique answers.
Click here for a great blog written by a school counselor (maybe I'm a little biased ;) filled with tips and suggestions on a range of potential issues your child could face.
College Board:
While college is still a ways away you'd be surprised how much Colleges and Universities will still look at Middle School, especially 8th grade. Many schools and scholarships now require that Algebra 1 is taken in 8th grade in order to be considered for their programs.
*Click here for an article filled with suggestions on what you can be doing even now to help set up your child for success.
*Click here for a quiz you can do with your child that will give you suggestions and advice based on your unique answers.
7 Apps Parents Should Know About
While technology can be amazing it can also be a very dangerous thing in the hands of a child. Students are very savvy when it comes to smart phone usage but can get themselves in over their heads quickly. Below I've listed a few sites that parents should be aware of and monitor. I know it can be difficult because you want to avoid an argument, eye rolls, scoffs or accusations of not trusting them but what I tell parents is - you pay for that phone, it's not a right it's a privilege and if they don't have anything to hide it shouldn't be a problem!
Instagram is extremely popular and probably one most parents have heard of by now. According to a recent study, Instagram is now the most popular social network for US teens. Out of the 7200 teenagers surveyed, 76% were active on Instagram compared to just 45% on Facebook. My guess is now that so many parents are on Facebook it's lost some of it's appeal. Some students are very interested in trying to become "instafamous" so they do not have any privacy controls on their profiles so anyone can follow/friend them. Which means anyone can comment on them as well as screenshot (take a picture of what your child posts) and then use that image as they wish.
Snapchat
This app, rated 12+ on the AppStore, is extremely popular among young people. Although it has a reputation for being used for sexting, most of the time it isn't.
The major problem with Snapchat is that it promises more privacy than it delivers.
It's known as the disappearing message app because images only appear for 10 seconds before they disappear from your screen. But those images do no get completely deleted at all and there's also nothing to stop the recipient of the image taking a screenshot and circulating the pic among their friends.
4chan
This is an image-based bulletin board website, divided into various boards whose subjects range from Pokémon to hardcore pornography. Now famous as having been part of the "big celebrity nude photo leak" it can be a very dangerous site - no registration is required and content isn't retained on the site for very long.
Yik Yak
This is a social chat app that creates an anonymous social chat room of up to 500 nearby users, which makes cyber bullying incredibly easy. Yik Yak's moderation and monitoring is totally controlled by users – who vote comments up or down. The app has a rating of 17+ in the AppStore, but there's no way to prevent somebody under the age of 17 from signing up. Due to the users' anonymity the site has been linked to serious incidents in various schools across the US.
Tinder
This dating app works by finding singles near your location. Once two people have 'liked' each others image they can privately message each other. Although this is supposed to be an adult dating site, anyone over the age of 13 can sign up. The Independent recently reported that 7% of the app's user-base is aged 13-17. Tinder says its users aged between 13 and 17 will only be able to view others of the same age but, worryingly, the app just takes a user's age from their Facebook profile - something which is pretty easy to change, or even create a fake profile for. Even forgetting all that, the whole up- and down-voting based on looks is potentially very unhealthy and dangerous
KIK
This is an instant messaging app and is an alternative to texting. Although the App Store rates it 17+ due to "Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes," there is no age verification and is popular with younger teens as it's free to download and use.
Peeple
This is brand new app that has not yet been released - and hopefully it never does. The only objective of the app is to have users rate other users and leave comments about them. The creators claim they want a platform for people to share positive message about others but it's very unlikely all messages and ratings will be kept positive.
Individual Counseling Request
If you would like for me to meet with your child individually please fill out the form below. This will go directly to only me and I will schedule a time to pull your student from class to review whatever concern you mark. After my visit with your child I will contact you via phone or email.